1. The majority of authentic quintessential Americans have not been given a free pass to Princeton and Yale.2. Quintessential Americans can't be hyphenated Americans.

I've
rewritten Sotomayor's life story to reflect what most of us would honor
as an authentic quintessential American. My rewrite is in red:

"Sotomayor grew up in the South Bronx in a family that moved from
Puerto Rico after World War II. At age 8, she was diagnosed with
diabetes; a year later her father died. Her mother raised her on a
nurse's salary.

One investment Sotomayor's mother made was in the only encyclopedia in the neighborhood. With this, Nancy Drew mysteries and Perry Mason thrillers, young Sonia started her love with the law.

Lacking
the test scores and requisite english skills to get into an Ivy league
college, Sotomayer attended her local community college where she spent
two years mastering english. Upon graduating with her associates degree
Sotomayor was accepted to NYU where she majored in pre-law studies.

Upon
graduating from NYU Sotomayor attended the only law school that would
accept her - a now defunct Long Island institution where she quickly
propelled herself to the top of her class with hard work and
dedication. Graduating summa cum laude she was offered a job as an
assistant district attorney in New York City where she met and married
New York cop Tom O'brien.

As an assistant district attorney in New York City, prosecuting all
types of crimes. Sotomayor then worked as a corporate attorney before
President George H.W. Bush nominated her to the U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New York in 1991. In 1998, President Bill
Clinton nominated her to the Second Circuit of the U.S. Court of
Appeals, where she has participated in 3,000 decisions and authored
around 300 circuit court opinions."

10 October 2008

Do I think Barack Obama's association with Bill Ayers makes Barack a
terrorist? No. I don't. So why does Ayers matter? The reason Ayers
matters is because he is the essence of contemporary liberal democrats.
If you elect Barack you elect Bill Ayers. You also elect George Soros,
Arianna Huffington, Markos Moulitsas, Keith Olberman, Andrew Sullivan
and a gaggle of special interest groups like ACORN, Moveon.org, GLAAD,
NOW, etc., none of whom have demonstrated an ability to work together in
order to defend this country, run a business or raise a family.

So if elected, Barack will first have to fight a losing battle
within his own party - a party who never stops fighting amongst
themselves long enough to get anything done. Things are bad. Both
republicans and democrats have created the problems. At no point in time has one party been more unqualified to lead
this country in time of crisis than Obama's democratic party.

John McCain is one of the few politicians left who has the
experience and DNA necessary to lead Americans out of this crisis. And
unlike their democratic counterparts - republicans do know how to get
in line and get stuff done. That's why Bill Ayers matters. And thats
why this photo is so iconic - it represents where liberal democrats
will "lead" the United States of America.

I'm breaking radio silence here. I'm in the middle of a campaign and I just viewed Sequoia's presentation on the impact the current financial crisis will have on portfolio companies. Read it. Most important take-away - toughness, competitiveness, ROI will rule. Time to toss out the green CMO's and bring in a few folks who know how to fight and win.

07 September 2008

I wouldn't. I watch FOX, CNN and MSNBC for a balanced look at what both democrats and republicans are saying during this election cycle. I can tolerate everyone - including Chris Mathews, everyone except Keith Olbermann. If there is one absolutely polarizing figure on TV today it is Olbermann. So the simple question is why would anyone buy advertising on his pre-game show knowing that you will alienate the majority of your target audience? Here's the answer.

02 September 2008

McCain and Palin are a team chosen for different reasons. McCain brings experience - Palin brings values. If McCain croaks during the initial stages of his presidency then the response to Palin's lack of foreign policy experience is the republican's deep bench of tested foreign policy experts who can and will step forward to backstop a Palin led administration. Compare and contrast this to the cast of foreign policy nut cases that Obama brings in on day one.

To Tucker Bounds - it's all about the foreign policy team backing up Sarah Palin - not Sarah Palin's lack of foreign policy experience. And assuming McCain doesn't croak, Palin will get to understudy our best and brightest when it comes to dealing with foreign threats - experience that combined with her conservative values will turn her into a formidable force - most likely the republican franchise for the next 16 years which won't make Romney, Huckabee or a few other folks happy.

02 August 2008

We have an immediate opening for a sales and marketing administrator. The position is with a client in the financial services industry. Telecommuting is ok so location is not important - as long as it is in the US.

This job is initially structured as a three month project for a 1099
independent contractor. The project can potentially convert into full
time employment at the end of three months. Much of the activity takes
place in central and eastern time zones so you need to be able to work
7am to 3pm if you're on the west coast. Also, you need to be comfortable working the phones - about
30% of your time will be spent following up on leads, setting
interviews and supporting our affiliates and partners.

This is an immediate opportunity - you must be available to start
no later than August 11. If interested please email your resume and
hourly rate. We will be conducting phone interviews August 4-5.

04 June 2008

Any good competitor is thinking three moves ahead - the move he makes, the move his opposition makes, then his counter move.
Barack Obama announced today that Caroline Kennedy will be one of three
"distinguished" Americans to select his VP running mate. In that
Democrats have long assailed Dick Cheney for being corrupt it seems
that Caroline Kennedy, scion to one of the most corrupt political
families in the
world, will now be in a position to select Dick Cheney's
replacement. What exactly does Barack think will be the Republican
response to this? As I said in an earlier posting on Barack - judge him
on how he intends to meet his campaign commitments and who he will
select to implement his plans. Caroline Kennedy is not a good start and further evidence of his lack of judgment.

As a bookend to Barack Obama's soaring oratory at his acceptance
speech, you had John McCain's speech which by all accounts was not
quite as soaring. As a marketing professional I say to McCain and his
team - keep it that way. Keep McCain authentic. His authenticity is
what propels the McCain brand. What ever you do - do not bring in the
PR tarts to try and attempt to turn McCain into something he isn't.
Most Americans get this instinctively - our measure of a man is his
actions not his words.

I watched Barack Obama's speech last night. I was impressed by his
oratorical skills. The same way I'm impressed by Wieden + Kennedy's
creative skill in selling billions of dollars of Nike athletic shoes.
Same emotional content. Same slick packaging. Same empty promises. Buy
my shoes and win the Olympic marathon - buy my candidacy and I will
create global peace, heal the sick and lower the oceans. I continue to
believe that Barack Obama's campaign is one of the most cynical
branding (propaganda) efforts - ever.

29 May 2008

As a marketer I have been on the tail end of the industrial age and
the leading age of the information age. I think the Dunkin Donuts
controversy may officially signal the start of a new age for marketers
- the age of confrontation... read the whole post atCitizen Strategist.

26 May 2008

It will be most interesting to see if Dunkin Donuts gets to the real
story behind the Rachel Ray kaffiyeh wearing controversy. For those of
you who may have missed the story - cooking show host Rachel Ray... complete post atCitizen Strategist.

20 May 2008

... then who is the voice of the company? Francois Gossieaux is writing about the need to transform CMO's:

a transformation of the CMO role and that of
their marketing department - one in which they become the
representative of the voice of the customer within the company instead
of the brand builders or the sales support department.

23 April 2008

As I indicated yesterday I have consolidated most of my online presence over at www.citizenstrategist.com. In step with this consolidation is my intention to sell this blog, it's content, workshop format and the paid subscription business model.

I will run Citizen Strategist for a few more months as an open site - after which I will password protect it and use it for clients and associates only.

I started blogging in 2004 more as an experiment and to test a business model. The blog grew slowly but steadily - I never promoted it. My business is campaigning - most of it off the radar screen. I work with a small network of associates and clients and do not have a need for the visibility of a blogging platform.

The best fit for this deal is likely a medium to large agency or consultancy looking to develop or expand it's online presence. Who ever purchases it gets an influential marketing strategy blog and subscription web site with more than 600 postings, hundreds of daily readers, 500+ newsletter subscribers, excellent Google juice, and links with many influential marketing bloggers. It's content rich, and the focus is on competitive and accountable marketing campaigning.

22 April 2008

I have consolidated all of my blogs and web sites at Citizen Strategist. There I will write, edit, curate and inhabit Citizen Strategist which is part blog, part web site, part library, and
part switchboard. I have made available for free, and for the first time, most of my manuals, wizards,
and other online campaigning resources on Citizen Strategist. So I hope you will visit and subscribe to the RSS feed there. Click here to visit.

29 February 2008

Wired's "How-To-Wiki" has a post up about how to make money around free content. They've listed more than 20 tactics and more are being added. This list was compiled in response to a blog post by VC Fred Wilson where he was speculating about the monetization of "free". Here's a few tactics from the Wired's Wiki:

J.M. Korhonen over at "On Winning" is talking about strategic intuition. His insights are in response to a new book by William Duggan called Strategic Intuition. This from the book about generating strategic insight:

Clausewitz gives us four steps. First, you take in “examples from
history” throughout your life and put them on the shelves of your
brain. Study can help, by putting more there. Second comes “presence of
mind,” where you free your brain of all preconceptions about what
problem you’re solving and what solution might work. Third comes the
flash of insight itself. Clausewitz called it coup d’oeil, which is
French for “glance.” In a flash, a new combination of examples from
history fly off the shelves of your brain and connect. Fourth comes
“resolution,” or determination, where you not only say to yourself, “I
see!”, but also, “I’ll do it!”

JM and his partner Panu Kinnari are Finnish students who blog about the practical applications of maneuver strategy in everyday organizations. These guys are bright. Their blog should be required reading for every business school in the US.

13 February 2008

Former President of the AMA's Boston Chapter John Cass is having an interesting conversation over on his blog about the AMA's new definition of marketing. Click here to read his blog. Highly recommend it.

12 February 2008

There are three market share metrics that when aggragated can be used
to gauge the effectiveness of your CMO and all marketing activities. These metrics are
the volume, value and vector of your market share.

1. VOLUME. Market share volume is the traditional notion of share measured in dollars or units relative to your competition. While volume is a good initial indicator, marketers need to know the value of this share and the trend of their share.

2. VALUE. Market share value attachs a quantitative value, measured by percentage margin, to your market share volume.
Having a large share of an unprofitable market is not sustainable.
Alternatively, holding a smaller share that is profitable may be
sustainable.

3. VECTOR. Market share vector is a trend measurement that depicts the direction your market share volume and value are heading, over time,
relative to your primary and secondary competitors. The vector has a
starting point, at least one intermediate measurement point and an
ending point, typically the conclusion of a campaign, or performance
review date of a CMO.

Market share vectors unambiguously measure enterprise success
relative to it's peers. The primary function of market share vectors is
to gauge the effectiveness of your marketing activities and the
performance of your CMO. Market share vectors are the CMO's version of
quota's, which sales reps are generally evaluated on (yes, I am saying
that CMO's should have market share quota's and be judged on their
ability to hit them). A few more comments on market share vectors:

1. Timing. Market share vectors can be used to judge effectiveness
over a multi-year career, a multi-month campaign or as part of an
annual review of budgets and plans. The vector requires a starting
point at which all competitors are measured, an intermediate point and
a concluding point that will be used to determine the vector trend.

2. Scaling. For start-ups or small firms with very small share,
market share vectors can be scaled down so as to meaningfully measure
actual performance. To scale down market share vectors simply select a
subset of customers, territories, segments or categories and measure
your relative share within that limited arena.

3. Influences. Poor vector performance may be due to influences
outside the realm of control of marketing and the CMO. But the same
thing applies to sales reps... there are many influences from quality,
to shipping, to design decisions that a sales rep must live and die
with, in their efforts to achieve a quota. The stark reality generated
by market share vectors needs to be tempered within the context of
issues, problems and opportunities faced by the enterprise and by the
CMO. Market share vectors set up a baseline framework from which a CEO
or CFO might begin to understand the effectiveness of their CMO and
their marketing activities.

4. Intelligence. Some enterprises do not have the competitive data
necessary to measure market share vectors. Others may not have the will
or the interest to generate competitive intelligence. To the former,
they need to begin the process of establishing a competitive
intelligence competency... market share vectors are a great way to
begin. Regarding the latter, enterprises without the will or interest
need to understand the importance of external metrics and the peril
they place themselves in when they operate without these guide posts.

We have a simple Excel worksheet you can use to plot market share vectors. Shoot me an email and I'll send you the worksheet.

BtoB's Matthew Schwartz interviewed me and AMA CMO Nancy Costopulos recently about my postings on the AMA's new definition of marketing. The interview is in the current BtoB Magazine. You can read it here online. In a nutshell this is what Costopulos said about my comments:

Nancy Costopulos, CMO of the AMA, said the association had anticipated
some dissent. "We think it's healthy for the profession to have a
dialogue and a conversation," about the new definition, she said. She
added that 70% of 1,000 marketers responding to queries about the new
definition said it was an improvement on the prior definition. Of the
revision Costopulos said: "It's not just about marketing in management
but marketing at a higher level."

Market share is the most important metric that marketers can use in
order to judge the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. This includes
branding initiatives, advertising campaigns, CRM programs and any other
revenue generation effort. Market share metrics are more important than
ROI measurements. The reason is quite simple. Market share is a
relative measurement against external benchmarks. Market share tells us
how we are doing relative to our competition.

It amazes
me how many enterprises ignore market share and focus on internal
metrics like awareness, loyalty, churn, leads, recall, revenue growth,
margin improvement etc. The problem is that internally focused metrics
can be deceiving. While the inwardly-focused enterprise may be happy
with it's results, this satisfaction can be delusional if the
enterprise is performing below par relative to competition. Which is
one of the reasons why many customer-centric enterprises are excellent
targets for attack and dislodge campaigns - they never see you coming.

While market share is the most important metric other measurements are
needed to develop a complete picture. Units, revenues and margin must
also be tracked in order to determine the ultimate value of your market
share. There are many ways to measure share. The easiest is to rank
revenue or measure absolute volume in unit sold or gross sales
generated. By itself volume measurements are a start but need to be
further described by the value of your market share. Having 70% share
of a market in which you are losing money is not a sustainable
strategy.

06 February 2008

A CEO is interviewing two candidates for the CMO slot in his
mid-sized enterprise. He's running a typical American enterprise -
limited resources, cutthroat competition, dwindling margins, etc., etc.
The CEO asks each candidate "how do you define marketing?".

“Marketing is the activity, set of
institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering,
and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients,
partners, and society at large. Marketing is not a function—it
is an educational process.”

22 January 2008

Laura Patterson has a good article up at Marketing Profs describing how CMO's can thrive. She uses CMO Anthony Palmer's quote about the role of marketing which is timely, based upon the AMA's new definition of marketing. This is what Anthony says:

"the role of a CMO is really pretty simple. You can't ever lose sight of the fact that your role is to sell more stuff to more people for more money more often.

“Marketing is the activity, set of
institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering,
and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients,
partners, and society at large.”

It will be used as the official definition of marketing in
books and taught in university lecture halls nationwide, according to
the AMA.

“One of the most important changes to American Marketing
Association’s new definition for marketing is that marketing is
presented as a broader activity,” said Nancy Costopulos, CMO of the
American Marketing Association. “Marketing is no longer a function—it
is an educational process.”

20 January 2008

Having criticized the AMA definition of marketing I wanted to offer
up my definition. This is a work in progress but substantially
represents my notion of marketing based upon 31 some odd years of
actually "doing it":

17 January 2008

One of our clients is building a new sales force and is seeking two highly motivated experienced sales reps to join their team. They will be tasked with the mission of helping us prototype and pioneer direct selling practices and then help recruit, train and manage resellers and agents. This is a foundation opportunity with the chance for significant short term compensation. Potential candidates must have successful financial services sales experience and be located within the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. If you're interested send your resume in confidence to mike@vsente.com

The folks over at the American Marketing Association have unveiled a new definition of
marketing to reflect the discipline’s "broader role in society". This is it:

“Marketing is the activity, set of
institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering,
and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients,
partners, and society at large.”

It will be used as the official definition of marketing in
books and taught in university lecture halls nationwide, according to
the AMA.

“One of the most important changes to American Marketing
Association’s new definition for marketing is that marketing is
presented as a broader activity,” said Nancy Costopulos, CMO of the
American Marketing Association. “Marketing is no longer a function—it
is an educational process.”

Having been in marketing since 1976 I don't have the slightest f$cking idea what any of this means. This kind of mental masturbation is exactly why marketing drives most CEO's up the wall.

PS: Is there a typo in the definition? Or is it just really tedious? Maybe its me...

Update 01.17.08: This post is getting a bit of traction so I wanted to elaborate just a touch...

Marketers can't get marketing right in a small enterprise - how do they
expect then to have any success expanding to society at large? Before AMA broadens the role of marketing they need to narrow it first,
and master the basic fundamentals that generate enterprise profit. Any
notion that marketing "is no longer a function" is silly. Most
importantly marketing is not an educational process - it is a
competitive enterprise that generates marketplace winners and losers.
Last, any marketing definition that does not include the words profit,
share or sales is functionally bankrupt.

Update 01.21.08: Having criticized the AMA definition of marketing I wanted to offer up my definition. This is a work in progress but substantially represents my notion of marketing based upon 31 some odd years of actually "doing it":

There, that's Smock's definition of marketing. I'm not imposing it on anyone - if you hire me to do a campaign and want to know what my definition of marketing is - that's it.

Update 01.22.08: Laura Patterson has a good article up at Marketing Profs
describing how CMO's can thrive. She uses CMO Anthony Palmer's quote
about the role of marketing which is timely, based upon the AMA's new
definition of marketing. This is what Anthony says:

"the
role of a CMO is really pretty simple. You can't ever lose sight of the
fact that your role is to sell more stuff to more people for more money
more often.

Update 02.05.08: Putting the AMA definition of marketing into context...

A CEO is interviewing two candidates for the CMO slot in his
mid-sized enterprise. He's running a typical American enterprise -
limited resources, cutthroat competition, dwindling margins, etc., etc.
The CEO asks each candidate "how do you define marketing?".

“Marketing is the activity, set of
institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering,
and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients,
partners, and society at large. Marketing is not a function—it
is an educational process.”

So you're the CEO - who do you hire?

Update 02.12.08

BtoB's Matthew Schwartz interviewed me and AMA CMO Nancy Costopulos
recently about my postings on the AMA's new definition of marketing.
The interview is in the current BtoB Magazine. You can read it here online. In a nutshell this is what Costopulos said about my comments:

Nancy Costopulos, CMO of the AMA, said the association had anticipated
some dissent. "We think it's healthy for the profession to have a
dialogue and a conversation," about the new definition, she said. She
added that 70% of 1,000 marketers responding to queries about the new
definition said it was an improvement on the prior definition. Of the
revision Costopulos said: "It's not just about marketing in management
but marketing at a higher level."

So marketing in management is at a "lower" level? Than what?

Update 02.13.08

Former President of the AMA's Boston Chapter John Cass is having an
interesting conversation over on his blog about the AMA's new
definition of marketing. Click here to read his blog. Highly recommend it.

Update 02.14.08

Bob Sullivan has a good post up describing the blogosphere reaction to the AMA definition:

Of course, I’ve read a few (very few) positive comments.
Unfortunately, those read like the new definition itself – wordy,
vague, and difficult to understand. I quit reading after the first
sentence or two.

No offense to anyone personally at the AMA, but jeez. This is the kind
of stuff that makes it so hard for non-marketing people – technical,
sales and operations types for example – to take us seriously.

More,

Bill Ward, Collegiate Relations Chair for the RAMA board likes the new definition:

I was pleased to see that the AMA announced an updated marketing definition. The AMA
reviews the definition every few years and makes changes if necessary
to reflect the dynamic and rapidly changing nature of marketing. I
believe the new version more accurately reflects the interaction and
control of the marketing process at the individual level (not just
organizational) with the growing influence of online social media and
consumer created content on society at large.

16 January 2008

We have a freelance copywriting assignment open for a new campaign. We
need a copywriter to help develop the "voice" of a campaign. This is a creative assignment and we need a writer who has experience with developing dialogue - like in short stories, novels, articles, etc. Not to be pedantic but there is a difference between writing dialogue for speaking vs. dialogue for reading. We need the latter.

We need somebody who can dedicate 8-16 hours to the project
beginning next Tuesday 01.22.08 The writer will work from a 250 word positioning statement. The deliverable will be a 250 - 500 word conceptual "voice".

We
will select the writer by noon west coast time on Monday 01.21.08. We pay
50% up front and 50% upon completion.

Enough with the small. Did you notice how the MacBook Air was precariously perched on Steve Jobs' finger tips? And opening it was an exercise in balance and fine motor skills? I for one am tired of viewing the world though increasingly smaller windows and devices.

I don't think in file or window metaphors. For me putting stuff into files, then giving those files a name and then filing those files for later recall simply does not work. I'm right brained and tend to think in pictures and experiences not words or numbers. Worse yet, I cannot process one file at a time - I need multiple images open and accessible (I like Leopards "Cover Flow" functionality in the finder) which is why I like 20 foot long walls and floor to ceiling white boards.

I recently traded in my 15" MacBook Pro for a new 17" MacBook Pro with the 1920 high resolution monitor. I like it. I like it a lot. There is now enough usable screen real estate where I can have three files open at one time. But I want more. What I really want is another screen where the trackpad and palm rests are currently located. That 5" by 15" strip could become a touch screen in the center and file dumps under each palm. I don't give a rats ass about my laptop being the thinnest or the lightest - but I am passionate about it's functionality relative to the way I function.

So for me the IPhone and MacBook Air are useless. I hope the Apple folks are brewing up some really cool stuff for us MacBook Pro users who need that creative real estate.

11 January 2008

We have a couple of freelance positions open for a new campaign. We need a web/graphic design pro(s) to do some quick concept work next week. We can split this between a web and print designer or give it all to one person. This is what we need:

Our client is a challenger firm in the financial services sector. We need a competent designer with the ability to create highly professional work. This assignment is for conceptual templates only and as such you will not be doing any final layout or production.

We need somebody who can dedicate 20-24 hours to the project beginning next Wednesday 01.16.08 and continuing through Saturday 01.19.08. The designer(s) will work on an iterative basis with us so you need to be available via phone and email for the entire assignment.

Preferably all work will be done using Adobe CS3 applications. We will select the designer(s) by noon west coast time on Tuesday. We pay 50% up front and 50% upon completion.

So the marketing blog-o-sphere is twittering away today about McDonalds move on Starbucks. I think this is a great move on behalf of McDonalds and I do think it will do significant short term damage to Starbucks. Three key things McDonalds needs to get right - price point, taste and ambiance. The price needs to be less than Starbucks, the taste needs to be good - not great, not Peets, just good - and the ambiance needs to be comfortable and functional. I think they're executing a winning plan. Also, I don't think the cafe prima donnas who order half skim, half soy, raw sugar, extra wet, decaf vente lattes will be flocking to McDonalds, which means McDonalds efficiency relative to Starbucks will be off the charts, and the customer experience for us regular folks greatly improved.

From time to time I am asked to review a new business book. Generally the topics are marketing related and the number of requests I get have been increasing significantly - not due to my reputation as an influential reviewer - but simply because of the deluge of new books being published.

Unfortunately the great majority of new marketing books have underwhelmed me to the point of not being able to write a positive review. I have a policy of not writing negative reviews. If a publisher takes the time and effort to send me a book, then I will take the time to preview it and if I find anything of value - review it on this blog. I've printed one review in the past 12 months.

So please - no more books in the mail. If you're looking for a few good books to add to your marketing bookshelf I can heartily endorse the following:

WHY MARKETERS SHOULD READ: Because Sun Tuz is the ultimate marketing
strategist. Learn how to win without fighting. And when you do have to
fight - how to kick ass and win.

MONEY QUOTE: Therefore use these assessments for comparison, to
find out what the conditions are. That is to say which political
leadership has the Way? Which general has the ability? Who has the
better climate and terrain? Whose discipline is effective? Whose troops
are stronger? whose officers and soldiers are the better trained? Whose
system of rewards and punishments clearer? This is how can know who
will win. (Pg. 46)

WHY MARKETERS SHOULD READ: Because Machiavelli delivers a great
primer on dealing with unethical tactics - like blog swarms, short
sellers, social activists, corrupt competitors, media relations, etc.

MONEY QUOTE: A new prince has never been known to disarm
his subjects, on the contrary, when he has found them disarmed he has
always armed them, for by arming them, these arms become your own,
those that you suspected become faithful, and those that were faithful
remain so, and from being merely subjects become your partisans. (Pg. 105)

WHY MARKETERS SHOULD READ: Because Boyd articulates the secret to
successful campaigning. Boyd's O-O-D-A Loop and thoughts on organic
command and control should be mastered by all marketers.

MONEY QUOTE: For a time, Boyd and Spinney were reluctant to fully
explain the O-O-D-A Loop; it was far too dangerous. If someone truly
understands how to create menace and uncertainty and mistrust, then how
to exploit and magnify the presence of these disconcerting elements,
the Loop can be vicious, a terribly destructive force, virtually
unstoppable in causing panic and confusion and - Boyd's phrase is best
- "unraveling the competition." This is true whether the Loop is
applied in combat, in competitive business practices, in sports, or in
personal relationships. (Pg. 334)

MARKETING: CRISIS

The Second World War, Volume 2: Their Finest HourWinston Churchill's WWII chronicles.

WHY MARKETERS SHOULD READ: Because everything you read today about
crisis management is wrong. Churchill's personal experiences leading up
to and during WWII provide a practical foundation for dealing with
crisis.

MONEY QUOTE: There never was an occasion when powers were
abrogated or challenged, and anyone in this circle could always speak
his mind; but the actual war direction soon settled into a very few
hands, and what seemed so difficult before became much more simple -
apart of course, from Hitler. In spite of the turbulence of events and
the many disasters we had to endure, the machinery worked almost
automatically, and one lived in a stream of coherent thought capable of
being translated with great rapidity into executive action. (Pg. 17)

WHY MARKETERS SHOULD READ: Porter provides a fundamental primer on
competition including practical tools and techniques that are even more
important today than they were 25 years ago.

MONEY QUOTES: One broad approach is to use superior resources and
capabilities to force an outcome skewed toward the interest of the
firm, overcoming and outlasting retaliation - we might call this brute
force approach. This sort of approach is possible only if the firm
possesses clear superiorities, and it is stable only as long as the
firm maintains these superiorities, and as long as competitors do not
misread them and incorrectly attempt to change their positions. (Pg. 91)

Most marketers used to the bright colors, short lists and pretty
pictures of Seth Godin, Tom Peters and Guy Kawasaki will find the above
list daunting to say the least. Which is why the list forms a golden
opportunity for those marketers with the hearty appetite necessary to
devour the contents. While most of your competitors are trying to paint
cows purple - you'll be out kicking ass.

09 January 2008

I like what Compete.com is doing with their online competitive metrics. Interesting stuff especially their composite view of online competitive activity. I love their tag line - Track your rivals - then eat their lunch. Their logo though looks like cute little Lego people in dresses. Somewhat at odds with the tag line and company name. Whats up with that?

The language of marketing has been borrowed from the military. We talk
about defensive marketing, offensive marketing, guerrilla marketing.
Often overlooked, however, is "flanking," one of the most powerful
military strategies.

A former stand-up comedian with a flare for
showmanship, Mr. Vines clashed with a more tight-lipped approach to
media relations advocated by Mr. Nardelli and Cerberus, according to
people familiar with the matter. He had been pushing Mr. Nardelli and
Vice Chairman Jim Press, who was recruited from Toyota Motor Corp., to
speak to the media about Chrysler's turnaround efforts, but Mr.
Nardelli opposed him, they said.

At the urging of Mr. Nardelli, Chrysler had brought in
a public-relations consultant, Robert Marston & Associates Inc., to
work with Mr. Vines. The agency had previously worked with Mr. Nardelli
when he was CEO of Home Depot Inc.

Under Mr. Vines, Chrysler was known in Detroit as one
of the more media-friendly companies in the auto industry. Cerberus, by
contrast, typically shuns media attention... Executives within Chrysler's corporate-communications department will
now report to human-resources Senior Vice President Nancy Rae, the
Auburn Hills, Mich., company said yesterday.

Oprah, NBC, Chevy, JetBlue all seem to be taken by surprise when their fans or customers react negatively to their political tastes. I'm baffled by this. Are the marketers behind these folks truly clueless? Or is it simply marketers hijacking public platforms to push their political agendas? On the other hand I have no problem with enterprises openly adopting political agendas as part of their branding. But the key is authentic. Not pandering and not covering up ones true intentions. NBC is a text book example of how not to do it.

The folks at Stine Seed are doing some interesting things with blogs, RSS, on-demand video and other Web 2.0 tools. Many marketers would look at selling seeds to farmers as not being very interesting - but if you peek at their blog and web site you'll see what a talented group of marketers can really do. Good stuff!

Kate Maddox at BtoB Magazine has a good article up about quantifying reseller ROI. We've done a fair amount of work for resellers and can identify with the issues she describes in the article. Here's a snip:

B-to-b marketers that rely on channel partners to sell their products
are struggling to improve the ways they measure ROI on their channel
marketing investments.
"It is incredibly difficult," said Martyn Etherington,
VP-marketing at Tektronix, which manufactures network test equipment
and derives 40% of its revenue from channel partners. "It is probably
the marketing nirvana that has been missing."

10 November 2007

I've written at length about marketers using polarizing or controversial spokesmen, platforms or sponsorships for their branding efforts. Bottom line is that if you want your brand to appeal to a targeted niche who identify with the polarizing issue, then certainly the strategy makes sense. But if not, if you run the risk of alienating a significant portion of your customer base - then don't do it.

Enter Chevy Trucks and John Cougar Mellencamp. Chevy has been using Mellencamp's "Our Country" sound track to promote it's truck line for quite a while now. I used to be a fan of John's, but his politics of late make him difficult to appreciate. Looks like I'm not the only one. Mellencamp brought presidential candidate John Edwards on stage last night at his concert, and the audience proceeded to boo Edwards off the stage. Seems like the fans did not appreciate his brand of politics - some even demanding a refund.

What's fascinating about Chevy choosing Mellencamp is that the Chevy folks feel that Mellencamp's brand of politics are patriotic and do appeal to America's truck buying demographics. Help me here - Mellencamp has long been a visible John Edwards supporter, and I'm guessing that the intersection of Chevy truck owners and Edwards supporters is pretty small - so why use Mellencamp?

Here's a note to all CEO's. If your CMO, agency or consultant tells you to use a polarizing figure or cause in your branding efforts, and the majority of your current customers and targeted prospects do not identify with this figure or cause - fire 'em. Fire the CMO, the agency and consultant. So what should Chevy do with Mellencamp? From what I can see Chevy trucks aren't exactly selling like hotcakes.

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